Dodge Super Bee

DODGE SUPER BEE IN CONCEPT
The Super Bee was intended to be Dodge’s low-priced entry in the Muscle Cars Wars, similar in concept to their sister-division’s Plymouth Roadrunner. Like the Roadrunner, the Super Bee was based on Chrysler’s midsize B-body platform (Dodge Coronet and Charger, hence the name, Super BEE. They started out at just $3,027 retail (in ’68) and ran from 1968 through the 1971 model year as its own stand-alone model. The following year, it returned as an option package on the 3rd-generation Charger.

DODGE SUPER BEE ENGINES
Nearly the full range of big block V8s was available. The standard engine was the 383 big block V8 making 335hp. At launch, the only other engine option was the ground-pounding 426 Hemi with 425 hp. Of course it was a very expensive option, adding nearly 1/3 to the price of the car, so only 125 were sold. Soon, the 440 Six-Pack joined the fray. But the single 4-barrel 440 Magnum was never offered in the Super Bee, instead reserved for the Coronet R/T line.

DODGE SUPER BEE IN THE MARKET
The Super Bee was very similar in concept and appearance to the Plymouth Roadrunner and they were both base on the same basic intermediate platform, the B-body. But the Dodge was just a little bit bigger, Dodge’s rear wheel openings were larger, and it had cast emblems instead of decals. Of course there were numerous cosmetic differences inside and out. But both filled similar roles in the marketplace and probably stole sales from one another in the showroom. The Super Bee and the Roadrunner were part of this “crazy image” that Dodge and Plymouth created for themselves with zany cartoon characters, “meep-meep” horns, and wild day-glo colors with zany names like “Plum Crazy”. They never had the budget of GM or even Ford, but they accomplished great things through their spunk, ingenuity, engineering and marketing talent, and pure moxie.